Wuzhishan_pig

Wuzhishan pig

Wuzhishan pig

Animal used for medical research


The Wuzhishan pig is a breed of inbred miniature pig created by Professor Feng Shutang,[1] intended to be used as a model organism for medical research.

Physical description

A Wuzhishan pig’s length ranges from 50 to 70 cm long (19.7-27.5 inches), with adults typically weighing between 30 and 35 kilograms (66.1-77.2 pounds).[2]

Wuzhishan pigs have a distinctive two-toned body which is black dorsally and pink ventrally.

The Wuzhishan pig is mainly used to study the human circulatory system due to the similarities between pig and human organs.[3][2]

Genetic research

The full genome sequence and analysis were completed by BGI Group in 2012; the breed was successfully identified in early 2013.[4] The intellectual property rights for the breed are protected by both Chinese[5] and American patents.[6]

On May 18 2015, the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences announced that its Institute of Animal Science agreed to transfer all breeding research to Beijing Grand Life Science & Technology Co., Ltd.,[7] which had the sole rights to breed and sell Wuzhishan pigs for commercial purposes.

Multiple Chinese research institutions, medical schools, hospitals, and enterprises conduct research around Wuzhishan pigs to establish their suitability as research models.[8][9] Research on future life science and medical applications of the pigs also began to take place, to which the initial results include the injection of embryonic germ cells into blastocysts,[10] along with islet isolation and purification.[11]

On June 23, 2017, the Academy of Military Medical Sciences and Grand Life Science declared that the PERV-pol gene-deficient Wuzhishan pig had been identified and verified by systematic virology methods and whole genome sequencing.[12] Grand Life had succeeded in reproducing F0/F1 PERV-noninfectious Wuzhishan pigs that then became available for advanced biomedical research purposes,[13] including a series of studies under the 2017-2020 National Primary Research Programs on bio-material development and tissue-organ repair.

See also


References

  1. "中国科技网". Stdaily.com. 2015-05-27. Retrieved 2015-05-31.
  2. "Wuzhishan | Animal Genetics Training Resources". agtr.ilri.cgiar.org. Retrieved 2022-11-11.
  3. Niu, Miaomiao; Liu, Yaqian; Xiang, Lei; Zhao, Yuqiong; Yuan, Jifang; Jia, Yunxiao; Dai, Xin; Chen, Hua (March 2020). "Long-term case study of a Wuzhishan miniature pig with diabetes". Animal Models and Experimental Medicine. 3 (1): 22–31. doi:10.1002/ame2.12098. ISSN 2576-2095. PMC 7167240. PMID 32318656.
  4. Fang, Xiaodong; et al. (December 2012). "The sequence and analysis of a Chinese pig genome". GigaScience. 1 (1): 16. doi:10.1186/2047-217X-1-16. PMC 3626506. PMID 23587058.
  5. Patent CN1502231A; 201410152868; 201410152864, etc.
  6. "牧医所五指山小型猪近交系成果转让签约仪式在京举行_中国农业科学院". Caas.net.cn. 2015-05-21. Archived from the original on 2015-05-31. Retrieved 2015-05-31.
  7. "Journal". Journal of Agricultural Biotechnology: 849~857. 2012. doi:10.3969/j.issn.1674-7968.2012.08.001. Retrieved 2015-05-31.
  8. Dong, X; Feng, Shutang; et al. (Mar 2014). "Generation of chimeric piglets by injection of embryonic germ cells from inbred Wuzhishan miniature pigs into blastocysts". Xenotransplantation. 21 (2): 140–148. doi:10.1111/xen.12077. PMID 24329557. S2CID 21964542.
  9. Jiang, X; Qian, T; Linn, T; Cao, L; Xiang, G; Wang, Y; Peng, H; Xue, P; Zhang, L; Chen, D; Yang, X (May 2012). "Islet isolation and purification from inbred Wuzhishan miniature pigs". Xenotransplantation. 19 (3): 159–165. doi:10.1111/j.1399-3089.2012.00702.x. PMID 22702467. S2CID 7099492.
  10. 中国实验动物信息网,http://www.lascn.net/Item/28132.aspx

Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Wuzhishan_pig, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.